Both Brussels mayor Freddy Thielemans and Brussels-City police chief Guido Van Wymersch described the outcome of the demonstration as positive, considering the number of people taking part - 13,000 members of the socialist union ABVV, with 6,000 members of the Christian union ACV gathering elsewhere in the city.

"The police did their work well, and a lot of people used public transport, which relieved some of the traffic congestion, and the security details of the union were remarkably well behaved," Thielemans said. The clashes that broke out, he said, were caused by 20 or so "trouble-makers who had nothing to do with the unions," who had confronted police at the neutral zone knowing it would lead to violence. Police used tear gas and water cannons to repel the crowd of stone-throwers.

The union was protesting against a series of "antisocial" measures on the agenda of the EU leaders who were meeting nearby. The measures in the so-called competitiveness pact include scrapping the automatic indexation of wages and tighter restrictions on early retirement. These, would, the unions said, throw the EU into a negative spiral of competitiveness by pushing wages and conditions down.

For those who live and work in Brussels, the demonstration led to disruption on the roads and on public transport. New chairman of employers' federation VBO Pierre Alain De Smedt said: "I understand workers' concern that certain matters might come under threat. But I regret that Brussels has been brought to a standstill by a demonstration. There are other
ways they might have displayed their discontent."

According to Unizo, which represents the self-employed, the demo had little support among employees of small and medium- sized businesses. More than 83% of companies polled had no workers absent on the day, and more than 90% called for the number of demonstrations to be limited.

"This action has brought the Belgian economy to a standstill in front of the eyes of the world's press," said Jo Libeer, managing director of the Flemish small business network Voka. "The unions' obsession with demonstrations continues to damage our country's image."